Thumbs -- Published Nov. 20, 2012

Tuesday

Nov 20, 2012 at 12:01 AM

Two men who worked for BP during the 2010 Gulf oil spill disaster that killed 11 and spewed 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico have been charged with manslaughter and a third with lying to federal investigators

THUMBS DOWNTwo men who worked for BP during the 2010 Gulf oil spill disaster that killed 11 and spewed 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico have been charged with manslaughter and a third with lying to federal investigators

The indictments were made public Thursday just hours after BP announced it was paying $4.5 billion in a settlement with the U.S. government over the disaster.

The fine and criminal charges are on top of tens of billions the company set aside earlier for cleanup and economic damage claims and the potential of millions more in civil claims to come.

Of course, BP should pay for the lives lost and the environmental and economic horror this man-made disaster visited on the Gulf and its residents.

But it is interesting to wonder what might have been, had the Justice Department been as aggressive in pursuing fines and criminal liability against those responsible for another man-made disaster: the nation's financial meltdown that triggered the Great Recession.

Not one person has been charged. In that disaster - which killed jobs, destroyed whole neighborhoods hit hard by foreclosures, and caused public treasuries to bleed out as government revenue sources disappeared - taxpayers had to rush in and shore up some of the nation's biggest financial institutions. Had we failed to bail out the banks the country could have slipped into a full-fledged economic depression.

By way of perspective, the $4.5 billion fine BP is paying is the largest levied against a private company. It's also less than the company's third quarter profit of $5.2 billion.

THUMBS UPThe wait goes on for final results in the Nov. 6 election. San Joaquin County's mail-in ballots have been counted, but election officials are still plowing through 17,000 provisional ballots.

Those ballots - cast by those whose names weren't on the precinct roles, or to make sure those who received mail ballots didn't vote twice - have to be verified individually. It will take days.

That leaves three local elections in question: the Bill Berryhill-Cathleen Galgiani race in the state's 5th Senate District; the Gloria Allen-Monica Hernandez race in Stockton Unified's Area 1; and the Elizabeth Yip Blanchard-Claudia Moreno race in Delta College's Area 2. A fourth race, the Diana Lowery-Moses Zapian race for the District 5 seat on the Stockton City Council, also is not final, although challenger Zapian has about a 2,000 vote lead over the incumbent.

This is maddening, but necessary. Accuracy is more important than speed.

THUMBS UPNot a bad three years in the bigs for Buster Posey.

OK, year two wasn't the best. That's when the San Francisco Giants catcher went down with a terrible injury after a crushing collision at home plate.

But year one for Posey included a World Series ring and a Rookie of the Year award.

And year three included another World Series ring, a Comeback Player of the Year award and, announced Thursday, the coveted Most Valuable Player award for the National League.

Think this guy's headed to Cooperstown?

Let's not forget to tip our hat to Miguel Cabrera, the first Triple Crown winner in 45 years, who won MVP honors in the American League.

But let's not forget the Detroit Tigers third baseman's World Series performance this year ... even though he undoubtedly wants to. Giants fans say thanks, Miguel.

THUMBS DOWNWouldn't it be wonderful if the ongoing national sex scandal involving a former four-star general/CIA director and another four-star general headed for a big promotion was nothing more than raging male hormones, towering egos, and a catfight between two women vying for the generals' attention?

OK, we do have that FBI agent who sent shirtless photos to one of the women.

But still, wouldn't it be wonderful if state secrets weren't part of this?

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.